The Lone Wolf
by Miri the Mentally Unstable
Summary: A story that takes place on the other side of the Roof of the World. Kasa Quintain was born a girl; she should have been a boy. But she soon proves that being female does not mean one can't do great things-even if it means the worst for Kasa.
1. Birth

Sanfon Quintain paced back and forth in a dreary hallway of Quintain Estate. For the thousandth time, he wondered why he was not allowed to see his own son be born. He had mentioned this to his wife, Eliai, earlier that month.   
"Are ye sure it shall be a boy?" she had asked in her quiet country way.  
Sanfon had stared at her. "Of course, Eliai. Quintains always have sons. No girls, ever." The Quintain Nobility was classified as a lasoen Nobility: meaning that ever since the family had become a Nobility, they had all male descendants. (Lansoen was the Greaktet word for "honored son".) Sanfon's great-great-great-great grandfather had become the first in the Quintain Line; Sanfon was sure the all-male heritage would not stop with his child.   
Just then, Sanfon heard a baby's cry. Moments later, a servant appeared, head bowed in respect. "Um, 'scuze me, Sir Sanfon, yer wife-"  
Sanfon raced up the stone stairs and into the bedroom. Halting at the doorway, he almost jumped for joy as the fat midwife handed him a squalling bundle of blankets. "Yer son, Sir."  
Sanfon looked down. The boy had the Quintain hooked nose, light blue eyes, and shock of straight blond hair. A Quintain to the core, he thought.   
"Bring in Haram Jepelt," he told the midwife. She bowed low and went to fetch the Futurebringer, who determined the futures of children. Eliai's maidservant went to bring in fresh juniper logs for the fire;another put out the current fire and shoveled all the ashes out. The fireplace needed to be swiped clean of ordinary ashes for Haram to do his work.  
The midwife returned, towing a lean, withering man in her wake. Haram sniffed wetly and held out his arms to Sanfon. Ever so gently, the baby was placed in the Futurebringer's arms. As servants lit the newly cut juniper logs, Haram produced a long metal pipe. He sat down on a small stool in front of the hearth and stuck the pipe in between the blazing, fragrant logs. As the midnight hour arrived, wisps of smoke curled out of the pipe end. Chanting in the language spoken by the gods, Greaktet, he sung prayers to the One God to guide the smoke from the pipe. Then followed a few hours of watching the smoke curl out in thin gray ribbons.   
Finally, he turned to Sanfon. "His name is Naddr. His Godsign is the Swift Horse. He will grow to be a scholar. That is, of course, with the usual exceptions."  
Sanfon was satisfied. A true Quintain, his son was! He wasn't worried about the "usual exceptions": the idea that his son could get killed or that he may do something to offend the One was preposterous. Nothing would stop Naddr from being a scholar. The name Naddr, meaning "dignified" in Greaktet, was also a suitable Quintain title. And the horse was the family animal. Sanfon believed that he could not have asked for a better son.  
As he was accepting his pay, Haram stiffened. "My work is not done," he murmured.   
Sanfon was about to ask what he meant when he heard a squalling cry, much louder than Naddr's had been. As he went to investigate, the midwife approached him. "Twins, mah lard."  
Sanfon was surprised yet happy. Boy twins were considered good luck. "Well, bring him here! Let him meet his father and brother."  
The midwife disappeared for several minutes, conferring in hushed tones with Eliai from the other room. Finally she brought out another bundle. Sanfon reached to receive his son.   
He frowned when he got the blankets. Something was wrong. The boy had a small, curved nose. He also had, not the Quintain blond hair, but a patch of dark, dark brown curls. Sanfon looked into the boy's eyes and shuddered. They were a fierce, vivid green so bright it was almost unbelievable.   
"Mah lard," The midwife drew back the blanket. ""Tis a girl."  
The child was most definitely a girl. Sanfon reeled from the shock. Surely not. He could not be the one to break the Quintain line. Boy and girl pairs were considered extremely unlucky: One of them was destined to betray the other. This could not be happening.  
But it was. Sanfon thrust the girl at the midwife. "Do something with it. Her."  
"Sanfon, we need to keep her." Eliai had struggled in from the bedchamber. "She's my daughter."  
"Oh-fine." Sanfon shoved the girl into Haram's arms. "Read her future, and be quick about it."  
As the servants prepared the fireplace, Sanfon noticed that Haram would not meet the baby's eyes. He was about to question why when Haram thrust his pole into the flames and began praying. Yet as the smoke started to curl out, the incessant chanting stopped and the Futurebringer's face screwed up in confusion and concentration. After several minutes, he finally spoke.  
"Her name is Kasandrei. Her Godsign is the Lone Wolf."  
"Wait- if they are twins they should have the same Sign," Sanfon protested.  
Haram shook his head. "Midnight hour today was the Sign Changing."  
Sanfon shivered. No Quintain had ever had the Lone Wolf Sign, the warrior's sign. As for Kasandrei, it meant "fiery spirit" in Greaktet. "What about her future?" he asked tentatively.  
Haram sighed. "It is muddled. I can barely see anything. Yet I know this girl has a fighting spirit. She is destined to make the stars shift one day."  
"You mean- a priestess?" Sanfon asked eagerly.  
"Sir Sanfon, stop making yourself believe! She is a warrior to the core. By the way," the Futurebringer added, "she had powerful magic. Great magic. It is a kind I have never experienced, not your normal everyday disappearing and healing and battlemagic and suchlike. Be careful with her." And with that the Futurebringer departed.  
Sanfon stared into the eyes of his daughter, deep, neverending pools of bright, bright green. She stared back with such ferocity that it made Sanfon look away.  
He wondered if he could change fate.  



	2. Discovery

Kasa Quintain spurred her horse forward. Anxiously she peered ahead for the Quintain estate. It was the first day of the month of the Swift Horse, when all whose Sign was the Horse celebrated their birthdate. Sanfon had organized an especially grand party for Kasa's brother Naddr this year, as he was turning thirteen.   
I'll be thirteen in a month, Kasa thought, but just because Naddr was born a couple hours earlier means he gets everything. Kasa paused. And because he's a boy, she thought bitterly.  
Riding towards the dark smear that was the Quintain estate, Kasa saw that there were a multitude of horses outside. The guests were here; she'd have to hurry. Dismounting from a full gallop, a trick she reserved for emergencies, she slapped her horse Jansi on the rump. The stallion knew the routine, and raced towards the stables. Kasa sprinted in the kitchen doors and up the back stairs, ignoring cries of protest from the cooks and servants. Racing into her little room, she pulled off her tunic and breeches and slapped water over herself. Hurriedly, she grabbed the first dress she could reach (which happened to be a rather unbecoming brown one), shoved it on, and undid her tight, practical bun, letting a multitude of dark brown waves fall to her hips. Squirting perfume to hide the smell of sweat, she hoped no one would notice that she looked like she had been running for 5 hours straight.   
Rushing downstairs, she snuck out of the kitchen, hiding behind some particularly obese waiters. Then she slinked over to the wall and tried to look as if she had been there for hours.  
Unfortunately, her father had seen her. "There's my daughter, Kasandrei!" he called out in a falsely cheerful voice. Striding over from the head of the table, he hissed at her. "Where have you been?"  
Kasa stared directly into his eyes, something she knew he couldn't stand. "I was in the village playing." She was an accomplished liar. She had to be, for the life she had chosen.   
Sanfon looked away. "Don't do that," he said grumpily. Then he shook her by the shoulders. "I know you're lying. You may fool others, but you can't fool me."  
Kasa made a mental note. Lying to her father was essential.  
"Do you know how much trouble you caused me?" he whispered. "All the guests, wondering where Naddr's twin is! Why she wasn't here to share the festivities with her brother! Twins are supposed to be intimate, girl! If you can't be close at least act it!"  
The girl sighed. She had heard all this before. People wondered why she and Naddr weren't really close. Supposedly they should know what the other was doing. All the twin pairs Kasa knew acted like this: her best friend in the village was a boy twin, and always knew when his brother was doing mischief. (Then he would go and join the fun.) Two years ago, a villager named Chak dropped dead for no apparent reason. It was later discovered that his twin, a sailor, had drowned in a storm at the same time. But whenever Kasa tried to "listen" to her brother, all she felt was an icy coldness. Five years ago, Naddr had caught severe measles and almost died. His twin didn't feel a thing; in fact she considered that time one of the healthiest in her life.  
"Dra," she said, giving the Greaktet word for father, "you know we aren't close. I can't act close. It-chills me." Kasa actually felt closer to this burly man she called Dra than to her twin. Naddr was totally alien.  
"Chilling or not, you will have to act it. We'll have a little chat about your whereabouts later. By the way," he said, staring at her outfit, "what in the gods are you wearing?"  
Kasa looked down for the first time at the shapeless dress. "I like it," she announced defiantly.  
"Well, it's too late to change now." Sanfon sighed. Putting on a big, fake smile, he then guided her to a seat next to Naddr.  
Her twin sneered as Kasa sat down. At this point in adolescence, Naddr was (in Kasa's opinion) a sniveling, skinny, pimply little thing with a high-pitched voice, sickly pale blue eyes, and limp blond hair. He was in a constant state of teasing Kasa. The only reason she put up with him was that she knew he had a store of magic that no one else knew about. He could easily do away with her, and Kasa knew that choice was not below him. She had once seen him open his untrained power on a squirrel; the sight of the carcass had made her sick for weeks.  
"I know where yoo-u've been," Naddr whispered in a sing-songish voice. Kasa clenched her fists. "You've been off with Mas-ter Raa-hin. You know you're not allowed to be a Cha-ai. I'm gonna te-ell!"  
"Care to repeat that on the practice courts, Naddy?" Kasa asked, using his hated nickname.  
"Naddy" gulped. The practice courts were warded against spells being preformed. Kasa could easily beat him there. Her twin stopped teasing.  
By the time the main course came out, Kasa was bored to tears. If only she could be in the Chai village court with Master Rahin! Well, she thought, brightening suddenly, I can always meditate! Kasa made her face a bright, cheerful smile, as Rahin had taught her, and then retreated into her soul. She pictured Master Rahin shaking her earlobe-length blonde hair, and instructing Kasa to sit up, straight, strong. "Open your mind," she would instruct in her brusque voice.   
Kasa unlocked the mental door of her mind and felt herself flow out of her body. It was always strange for her to see her own face smiling sweetly, nodding at what everyone said. She reminded herself that she had to find another expression to use during meditation, and settled down, waiting for the sense of peace that came with the exercise.  
But this time, it was different.  
Kasa felt very odd. Not pleasantly odd, but not nastily odd either. Just-strange. Then the light came.  
It wasn't a physical light, but a mental one. She was soaked up into it, and found herself in a different state of mind than when she usually meditated. She didn't have the feeling of being cut off from everything, in fact, quite the opposite.  
Then she knew-she was everything.   
She was, just simply. In those minutes she forgot who Kasa was, who her parents, Naddr, Master Rahin, Jansi were-she just existed, and yet she was everything-   
Fire and water, metal and rainclouds, stone, plants, pain, suffering, joy, light, love, fear, power, stars-she was all those things and more-  
She continued to be, laughing, crying, giving light, hurting, loving, having no sense of who she was-  
Until she felt a pull from her own body.  
Instantly Kasa's life came back to her, and she was terrified. What in the gods had happened? She frantically retreated to the safety of her physical self to find her father shaking her.  
"Kasa! Kasandrei Quintain! Wake up, girl!"  
Kasa got up, shaking. She saw a hint of concern in her father's eyes. "What in the gods happened, you look like you've seen a ghost! Where are you going?"  
For Kasa had just sprinted out in the direction of the stables. Nearly crying with fear, she mounted Jansi and galloped towards the Chai court, to the only person who would understand her.  
  
  



	3. Consultation

The hooves of a large black stallion pounded along the rural forest road. The rider on top of its back was small for such a beast, but any observer could see that she had a good seat, even if she was obviously terrified out of her wits.  
Kasa was more than terrified. She had been scared before: when a crocodile had almost eaten her in one of the family's trips south, when she and her village friends had seen a ghost, when Dars Lanma, the town hermit and local nutcase had chased her and the same pack of friends with a club. But these all seemed trifles compared to the feeling she had now. Her body was almost physically blue with fear and confusion over what had happened only five minutes ago.  
Only five minutes, she thought. Six minutes ago I was everything in the universe-and now look at me, running like a rabbit. As if to emphasize this, she dug her heels into Jansi's flanks. The stallion, who had been reared by his rider, knew not to take it personally.  
She got to the Chai court and saw some of the regulars out practicing. "Lo-Lorian," she gasped to one of her friends.  
"Ah, Kasa!" he cried, spinning to face his gray eyes with her green ones. "Thought you'd never-" He saw how frightened she was and stopped. "Kasa-what-I've never seen you this scared before!"  
"'Scared' is a bit of an understatement, Lor," joked someone else. "What happened, Kaz? Did Lanma chase you again?"  
They think I'm joking, thought Kasa. She slid off her horse and crumpled in a heap on the ground, half-fainting.  
That scared them. Kasandrei Quintain was known for her fluid dismounts, and no one had ever seen her collapse like that. Trainees started to take her horse, and dimly Kasa remembered Lorian's face. "I'll take you to Rahin, Kaz."  
The red screens that served as a wall to Master Rahin's quarters swept past Kasa, limp in Lorian's arms. She smelled pungent green tea and felt herself being put onto pillows, heard Lorian leaving.  
A cup of tea was pushed into her hands. "Now, tell me."  
On instinct Kasa gulped the fiery liquid down. It helped. Slowly, breath in gasps, she told her story from the time she had left her Chai teacher hours ago.  
Finishing, the girl sank into the blood red pillows in the corner of the room. Master Rahin stood up and stared out the window, brushing her slightly gray, short blonde hair back. "Remind me to have more respect for Jaram Hepelt."  
Kasa sat up. "The Futurebringer? What in the gods does he have to do with this?"  
"Have you ever been told the story of your birth?" Kasa shook her head. "Well, if your parents aren't competent enough, I suppose I'll tell you."  
Quickly, bluntly, told in Rahin's brusque manner, the night of Kasa's birth was unfolded before her. The girl blinked as the story ended. Her parents loved to lavish Naddr with stories of his birth, but never even hinted at what Kasa's teacher had just told her.   
"I suppose your parents have left out your name meaning from your Greaktet lessons?" Rahin asked.  
Kasa nodded. Like any normal noble, she was prey to daily lessons in the language of the gods. She had never been taught the words for fire and spirit. Now she knew why. "Take kasa, fire, add an n for an adjective, and put it with drei, spirit," Master Rahin had explained. "Kasandrei, Fiery Spirit. Your parents obviously didn't want you to know."  
Now Kasa drained her tea. "What about this afternoon?"  
Rahin sighed. "This confirms Jepelt's prophecy, though he did not mention what exactly the magic is, nor how to control it or even what it's for." The teacher looked defeated. "No one for miles around has the knowledge to take on a totally new magic and teach it to you."  
Kasa's heart sank. "What'm I to do? I need to be able to control it!"  
Master Rahin stared out the window. "I know of one person who might, just might be able to help you, and that is if he is alive anymore."  
"Where is he?" Kasa asked eagerly.  
"He's a long way away. My brother traveled to the other side of the T'aakinne." The T'aakinne was the top of the world, a place where few had been. "He brought me news of the countries on the other side. Said an extraordinarily powerful man lives there."  
"What's his name?" Kasa asked eagerly.  
"Numair Samalin."  



End file.
